


i welcome my sentence (give to you my penance)

by alternatereality42



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Canon-typical language, Emotionally Constipated Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Apologizes, Jewish Character, Jewish Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, POV Jewish Character, Post-S1 E6: 'Rare Species', Post-Season/Series 01, Pre-Slash, Yom Kippur | Atonement Day, by g-d i will make that a tag, nobody asked for this but here it is anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:13:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26637151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alternatereality42/pseuds/alternatereality42
Summary: Geralt has a lot to apologize for.
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 12
Kudos: 74





	i welcome my sentence (give to you my penance)

**Author's Note:**

> You ever look at a character and go, "wow, you're either Jewish or Catholic, and you fucked up big time and Yom Kippur's coming up"? No? Just me?  
> Nobody wanted this except me, but I wrote it anyway. Enjoy!

It was that time of year again, when the leaves in the trees were just starting to turn warm colors, taking the heat with them as they did. Geralt would hardly have noticed the time of year, idly noting that he ought to return to Kaer Morhen soon, if it weren't for a conversation he overheard in a tavern he was staying at.

"I'm very sorry," a man said, "for anything I may have said or done this year that made you feel bad." Geralt turned. The man was standing in front of a woman wearing a scarf wrapped around her hair, holding her hands in his. "I will surely endeavor to never say or do those things again."

"I forgive you," the woman said. "I, too, would like to apologize for any ways I may have wronged you over this past year. I, too, will do my very best never to again." 

Geralt looked away as they embraced, turning back to his ale. He'd never been the most religious--he hadn't been to temple in many years, for one, and his lifestyle hardly allowed for fasting--but he owed quite a few people apologies. Yennefer, for one, his mind supplied, and Ciri, for not coming to get her for all those years. And--Jaskier. It had been almost a year since the Dragon Mountains. He had to apologize. Fuck.

First things first. Easiest things first. Yennefer, then Ciri, then--if Geralt could find him before the holiday--Jaskier. Yennefer first. He knew where to find her.

\---

"I need to talk to you," Geralt said, finding Yennefer in the marketplace. 

"Can it wait? I'm a little busy," she said, before turning back to the merchant and fluttering her eyelashes. "Could I persuade you to lower the price?" she asked.

"Come find me," Geralt said. "I'll be at the tavern." He turned and left, shoving his hands in his pockets to protect them from the sudden wind. He ought to dig out his warm gloves soon. They can't have gone far. 

The bell tinkled over the doorway of the tavern as he walked in. The heat coming from being occupied by so many people was welcome. He ordered two ales, and sat down at a table to wait. 

He didn't have to wait long. "What's this about, then," Yennefer asked, approaching the table. Her cheeks were bright from cold and her hair was uncharacteristically tangled. She reached for the ale at her place as she sat down, taking a sip and grimacing. "This tastes like piss," she said. 

"I want to apologize," he said. 

"...For?" she asked, as it became painfully clear he wasn't going to continue without prompting. 

"For the djinn. For the ale tasting like piss. Fuck." He paused. "I hadn't gotten this far," he said.

"Well, hurry up," she said. "Get to the point."

Geralt sighed. "I'm sorry, Yen. For the repercussions of the wish, for the fucking ale, for all of it. For anything I've said or done this year that hurt you."

"What's this about?" she asked, wary.

"Yom Kippur is coming up soon," he said.

She eyed him over. "I wouldn't have taken you for the religious type," she said.

"I'm not. Just. I've got a lot to apologize for. Now seemed like a good time."

"Or a good excuse," she nodded, leaning back in her chair and taking another sip of ale, before scrunching up her face as she swallowed and placing it back on the table. "Not quite sure why I did that," she muttered. 

"The excuse helped," Geralt said.

Yennefer sat forward again. "I forgive you," she said. "Well, I plan to, at any rate, and then it doesn't matter when, does it? Who else are you--"she wrinkled her nose--"apologizing to?"

"Ciri. For not getting her sooner. And Jaskier. If I can find him."

"Good luck," she said. She stared at him for a moment longer, than stood up. "Well, I must be off," she said. "I _am_ busy, after all. You're welcome to my ale, I have no use for it. Goodbye, Geralt."

"Goodbye, Yen," he said softly. 

\---

Ciri was next. Geralt found her sitting on a log at their campsite, knitting away at something or other. Yen had gotten her needles and a few balls of yarn for her birthday, and it seemed she'd been knitting ever since. Geralt and Yen had both received several scarves already, and she was working on something for Roach. She looked up as he approached.

"Is something wrong?" Ciri asked.

"No. I just. Um." Geralt cleared his throat. "I wanted to apologize," he said. "For not getting you sooner."

"I forgave you for that a long time ago," she said. 

"I know," Geralt said, "but I still wanted to apologize."

"You're forgiven." Ciri smiled at him. "Was there anything else?"

"Um. Just a general, blanket apology. For anything this year I've said or done that hurt you in any way. I figured abandoning you deserved its own apology."

"I forgive you." Ciri patted the log next to her. "Come sit. I'm pretty sure I remember how to do a seed stitch."

Geralt sat. They sat in silence for a moment, the only sounds coming from the forest around them and Ciri's knitting needles, before Geralt opened his pack, searching for paper. He found none, and turned to Ciri. "Do you have any paper?" he asked.

"I don't, sorry," she said. "Maybe Yennefer does?"

Geralt nodded and walked to Yen's tent, opening the flap and sticking his head inside. The tent was the same one she'd used on the mountain, and he continued to be surprised every time he looked inside by exactly how much bigger it was on the inside. Yen was sitting on her bed, concentrating intensely on whatever she was doing. "Yen," he called softly, "Do you happen to have any paper?" 

Without looking up, she jerked her head to her desk. Geralt looked, and lo and behold, she had not only paper, but a quill in an inkwell and a container of sealing wax. 

"Can I write a letter?" he asked. She nodded. Shrugging, Geralt sat down at the desk, picking up the quill and starting to write. 

'Jaskier,' he wrote, 

'I'd like to see you. I need to apologize. 

\- Geralt'

He blew on the paper a few times to dry the ink, then carefully folded it into thirds and sealed it with the wax. Leaving it on the desk, he stood up. 

"When you're done with whatever you're doing," he said, "could you deliver this to Jaskier? I wouldn't ask, but I know you have ways of finding people."

Still not looking up, she nodded. "Leave it here," she said. "He'll have it by tomorrow."

Geralt exited her tent and went back to where Ciri was sitting. Sure enough, a few hours later he heard the sound of grass uprooting from the ground, and looked up to see Yennefer step through the portal, letter in hand. 

She came back the next morning. "He says he'll see you," Yen said, "but you have to let him perform first." She held out a hand, and he took it. With her other, she held the portal open for long enough for them to step through it. 

\---

Going through portals was never an enjoyable experience, and this time was no different. They exited in front of a tavern, music coming from inside. Geralt let go of Yen's hand and walked in, where Jaskier was in the middle of a particularly bawdy song, this time involving a girl who had somehow become pregnant with a horse. Yen entered after him, and they sat down at a table to wait. Jaskier finished the song, and basked in the clapping and booing for a bit. "Thank you!" he said. "I'm going to take a break now, but I'll be back singing soon!" 

Setting his lute down, Jaskier approached their table. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

Geralt stood up. "I need to apologize," he said. "Please don't say anything until I'm done. I owe you three apologies, and I'm going to give them to you one at a time."

"First of all," Geralt said, "I'm sorry. I yelled at you, on the mountain. I said words I didn't mean. I blamed you for things that were my fault. I was hurt, and I was angry, and you were there. I hurt you, and for that I'm sorry." Jaskier opened his mouth to say something, but Geralt held up a hand. "Please let me get through this," he said. 

"Second of all," he continued, "I'm sorry. I took you for granted. I--you were always there, for me, even when I didn't deserve it. I didn't think this time would be any different. I thought you'd come back. I didn't deserve for you to come back. I hurt you, and I expected you to stand there and take it, and for that, I'm truly sorry." Again, Jaskier opened his mouth to speak, and again, Geralt held up his hand. "Just one more, and then you can talk."

"Third of all," he said once more, "I'm sorry. For everything. For the grunts instead of conversations, for leaving you hanging so many times, for every little thing I said and did--or didn't say and didn't do--that hurt you, even just the slightest bit. For being scared to get attached, for putting up walls, for ignoring you, for never telling you I cared about you, for taking you for granted, for everything. I have done you wrong in so many different ways, and for that, I am deeply sorry."

"For all of these things, Jaskier, and for anything else that hurt you which I failed to mention, I sincerely apologize. Will you forgive me?"

Jaskier opened and closed his mouth a few times. "That was a very good apology," he said finally. 

"I've been working on it for a while," Geralt replied. 

"I hadn't taken you for the religious type," Jaskier said.

"I'm not. It was--a reason," Geralt said, "to do something I'd been meaning to do for a while."

"Geralt--" Jaskier broke off. "I can't forgive you," he said finally, eyes soft. "Not yet. Not until I know you mean it."

On an impulse, Geralt said, "Let me prove it. Come to Kaer Morhen with us for the winter."

"Us?" Jaskier asked.

"Us. Me, Ciri, Yen."

"Princess Cirilla? You went back for her?"

Geralt nodded.

"Are we to leave now?" Jaskier asked.

"No," Geralt replied. "In two months' time. Yen'll find you."

"In two months, then," Jaskier said, nodding. 

"Then you'll accept my apology?" He had to know.

"Geralt," Jaskier said softly, "I'll accept anything you give me."

"I'll give you Kaer Morhen," Geralt said. "I'll give you my world."

Jaskier's eyes glistened with tears. "In two months' time, then."

"In two months," Geralt repeated. "Yen'll come for you."

Jaskier hesitated, then stepped forward and pulled Geralt into a hug. "Stay safe," he murmured.

"For you? Always," Geralt said.

"If you're quite done--" The two broke apart. Yen, standing by a newly-made portal, was watching them, amused. Geralt had quite forgotten she was there. "We really must be going," she said.

"Of course," Jaskier murmured, stepping backwards. "I'll see you in two months," he said.

Geralt nodded, and he and Yen stepped through the portal. As soon as they were through, she whacked him on the shoulder playfully, her eyes dancing with mirth. "You'll give him your _world?_ "

"Shut up," Geralt growled.

"You _sap!_ "

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!


End file.
